It’s always a sad day when an MMORPG closes its doors for good. For Kakao Games, the writing was on the wall for months with the Asian inspired MMORPG Elyon, after they announced the closure of the game in NA and Europe back in September. Despite the game projected to receive a few minor updates and continued maintenance until December 7th, it was widely believed that the Korean version of Elyon would continue on. Unfortunately, that will not be the case, as Kakao Games has announced that Elyon will cease services on March 2, 2023, just a few short months after the expected closure of the NA and EU version.
Elyon released in Korea on December 10th, 2020, and told a story of two realms pitted against each other. The game became known for its PvP, realm war, Luminus summons, and class system. Elyon did manage to receive a somewhat positive, although generally mediocre critical review score. Despite the game being generally good, there wasn’t much in Elyon to keep players around, and it was clear that the game was struggling to keep players invested garnering a measly peak daily player base of less than 300 players on Steam throughout the majority of 2021 and 2022. It was clear that Elyon was not the hit it was meant to be in NA and EU, and Kakao announced the closure of the game back in September of 2022. With the closure just days away, the announcement from the Korean version of Elyon that the game would be shutting down there as well was gloomy, though not altogether surprising.
The team addressed the unfavorable news through a post on the official Korean Elyon site. Here is an excerpt, translated via Google Translate:
“My heart is heavy with all the adventurers who have loved Elyon so far.
Elyon, who was greeted with official service on December 10, 2020, has been able to be with you until now with the love of adventurers,
Since then, it has been determined that it is difficult to provide continuous service, and after careful consideration, we have decided to terminate the service on Thursday, March 2, 2023.
Thank you for your affection and interest in adventurers, and we apologize.
Elyon's journey is nearing the end, but we repay the love you have given to Elyon so far.
With the hope that it will be a good memory for adventurers until the last moment.”
– Kakao Games, Elyon Korea, Shutdown Notice
Although the game will be closing, a new class will be available for play on December 7th, known as the “Pulse Shooter”. For those that have spent money on the game recently, they will be refunded for their purchase, and the team will let players ride out the remaining several months by buying shop items with in game currency instead. We wish all those at Kakao Games, BlueHole, and Krafton that have worked on this project the very best in their future endeavors.
